SEAN Stewart is looking forward to his first experience of European club football as Cliftonville take on Auda of Latvia in the Second Qualifying Round of the Europa Conference League on Wednesday evening (7.45pm kick-off). 

The 21-year-old has international experience at underage level but is looking forward to stepping out at Solitude in European competition.

He hopes the Reds can do the Irish League proud after Linfield and Crusaders exited the competition in the first round and Larne dropped into the third round of competition after their heavy defeat at the hands of Latvian opponents RFS in the first qualifying rounds of the Champions League. 

"It should be a great experience and one we worked hard for last year to get to this point,” Stewart believes. 

“We just want to go out on Wednesday night and play our football and try and do ourselves justice.

"I think it shows how difficult it is to win matches in Europe and how good the opposition are going to be. Auda won their first round game, and they are a decent team that will cause us problems. Hopefully we can do the league proud and hopefully get a win.” 

After an initial loan spell last season, Stewart signed on the dotted line weeks ago after his Norwich City contract had expired and although there were options to return to England, he was happy to pursue the opportunity to remain at the club he supported growing up. 

"I obviously enjoyed last year so much because I was playing football and finally back to full fitness and stuff and obviously the cup final topped it off,” he admits.  

“It was a great year and I love the club. I always supported the club and to get the opportunity to come back was one I wanted to pursue.

“There are a lot of new eyes on the league. The league has grown and interest is getting bigger and bigger. It just shows you how good the league is now that players are getting over to England and Scotland from it, and there is lots of opportunity within the league. I’m excited to get the season going with Cliftonville and hopefully kick on from there.” 

Stewart is part of a revamped defensive unit with manager Jim Magilton bringing in three further options including Michael Newberry, Shaun Leppard and Luke Conlon, and the left-back believes the fans can be exited with Magilton’s new additions. 

“There has been a load of new signings and they have been very good,” Stewart acknowledged. 

“I think all the Cliftonville fans, once they see them in the season, will be very happy with the signings that Jim has made. Obviously, we’ve lost key players from the Irish Cup squad, but the players we’ve brought in are very good as well. It’s going to be an exciting season and hopefully we can start it off well on Wednesday night.”

With the league opener against Portadown [Sunday, August 11] around the corner, Stewart is looking forward to competitive action returning on a consistent basis and showcasing the work that the squad has put in over the summer months. 

“Everybody can’t wait, we almost want it [the league] to start now,” he revealed. 

“We’ve been doing pre-season for a while and once the matches start coming you just want to start playing in the games. Everybody has worked really hard over pre-season and it’s just

a case of going out on Wednesday and when the league starts and showing what we can do and how hard we have worked in pre-season.”